The incident yesterday in which a car crashed into a barrier outside the Houses of Parliament and in which three people were injured may not have been a terrorist attack. The driver has not been charged with a terrorist offence although he is still detained on suspicion of planning an act of terrorism under the terms of the Terrorism acts. In my diary yesterday I made it clear that the response to the crash meant it was treated as if it were terrorism.
Donald Trump made an immediate assumption and of course tweeted.
Unlike what Trump would wish for the USA, British justice acts through the rule of law. This is regarded as so significant it is one of the “Fundamental British Values” that every school must “actively promote”. Applicants for naturalisation must show an understanding of these in the written examination and swear (or affirm) to uphold them when they become a citizen.
(F)undamental British values' comprise:
- democracy
- the rule of law
- individual liberty
- mutual respect for and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs, and for those without faith
By definition, a terrorist offence must have a political motive. Police have been trying to establish the motivation of the detained man. He has been named as Salih Khater, a British citizen who was born in Sudan. (In a comment in yesterday’s diary I wrote “From the brief snatches of him in the broadcast videos, he looks like he is from Somalia.” Sorry for the error but I did narrow it down to the Horn of Africa!)
Khater has exercised his right to not respond to questioning although in the words of the police caution “it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court.” Here is what we know about him which you feel may point to other motivations. I am relying on BBC live TV reports and other reporting/information which is in the public domain. I will not speculate myself as this could both breach English law and prejudice his right to a fair trial.
First, he was not on the Security Services’ “radar” and had not been referred to the Prevent programme, part of the UK’s CONTEST anti-terrorism strategy. That was made clear last night. The BBC state that he “is not believed to have been known to MI5 or counter-terrorism police, but is understood to have been known to local police.”
He was born in Darfur, Sudan and arrived in the UK as a refugee in 2010, being granted citizenship a couple of years ago. On his CV (resume) which the BBC has seen a copy of, he lists working as a farm labourer in Libya for two years. [This is a common route for those seeking asylum in Europe.] He lives in Birmingham, West Midlands and other members of his family are here. His brother has told the BBC that he was planning a visit to Sudan to see other members of his family.
At this point it may be useful to briefly review the video of the incident, including the few seconds before when he was going round Parliament Square. Please ignore the title put on the clip by the uploader. The vehicle that his car appears to nearly collide with at 0:08 is an ambulance. The flashing indicates it was speeding on “blues and twos” to respond to an emergency — strobing blue lights and two tone claxon.
Khater is thought to have been in London to go to the Sudanese embassy in preparation for his journey. The Independent have interviewed friends, one told them.
“His father died six or seven months ago and that’s why he was stressed.
“In my opinion he was going the wrong way and he didn’t know what he was doing and when he saw the police he got scared – he’s lucky they didn’t shoot him.”
This is the BBC’s account of his academic history.
Having completed his secondary education in Sudan, he studied electrical engineering at university there before moving to the UK.
He studied English as a second or foreign language at City College from 2010 to 2011, later studying a diploma in science at South and City College in Birmingham from 2014 to 2017.
More recently, Mr Khater studied accountancy at Coventry University from September 2017 to May this year, a spokesman for the university said. He is no longer enrolled there.
The BBC have also said that he failed his first year examinations and this is the reason for his no longer being enrolled at Coventry University. Police have searched premises in Birmingham and elsewhere and so far [source BBC] have not found any materials that would suggest he is involved with radical Islamism.
Normally I would expect to sum up at the end of a diary but I must simply present the information that is in the public domain. I have used the “terrorism” tag in accordance with this site’s conventions however that must not be taken as any indication of Mr Khater’s guilt.
What is absolutely clear is that some people for their own purposes have already tried and convicted him without knowledge of either him, his motivation or the events leading up to his car crashing into the safety barrier.
Wednesday, Aug 15, 2018 · 7:44:42 PM +00:00
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Lib Dem FoP
I should clarify what is meant by the terms of the Terrorism acts.
Normally somebody detailed by the police must be charged or released within 24 hours. In the case of serious alleged crime like murder, the police can apply for this to be extended to up to 96 hours. Under the Terrorism Act, this can be up to 14 days.
All interviews by the police are recorded (often using two recordable CDs — a copy for the police and prosecution and one for the defence or, increasingly, they are video-recorded). A young or vulnerable person(e.g. somebody with a mental disability) must be accompanied by a “responsible adult” in addition to any legal representative.